Planting in Harsh Conditions

reflections about gardening

Our family took a trip to my parent’s cabin in Angelus Oaks this past Memorial Day Weekend. Their property and those around are still repairing and rebuilding from the huge flood that swept through the valley last year. It swept down huge boulders, carved away at the land, and uprooted everything in its path. Now the river is a wide, rocky, treeless wash.

But signs of life are returning.

Anna, their neighbor, has begun to recreate the beautiful garden she used to have there. You can see a picture of it below. She has landscaped the area, moving rocks and sand to create little rivulets and pathways where she has planted hundreds of seeds, plugs, and bulbs. From a distance, it doesn’t look like much, but upon closer inspection, it is the evidence of beauty and perseverance.